Owner:
Tim
Member
Member#: 238 Location: Registered: 01-06-2003 Diary Entries: 343
Mood: Not enough time to do it all.
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13th April 2008
Mt. Biking: HONC - 102km big one Wind Direction: ?? Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: 12 and falling Sea Temperature: Weather: Hail / Sun Max Speed: 38.5 mph (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 103km (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise)
I last rode the Hell of the North Cotswolds in 1992 & 1993 I think. I know
it was around then for sure. I remember one year was dry and dusty and I
did it on my training bike, the bottom bracket fell apart, and the shell
actually cracked right through. Then the next time I did it on Pat
Alexander’s MTB, which was the first time I rode a bike with front
shocks.
This year was much harder than I remember and much longer in the saddle.
102 km of riding, of which I’d say ¾ was quite hard muddy stuff. Some of
it literally ploughed fields, and only a few road sections, and those
mostly going uphill!
Me and 3 intrepid Brogborough Dynamos set off about 10 minutes after the
off. With 1100 or so riders it takes a while to get through a gate. Sparky
was doing the short run and we 3 others the long.
We sped off with Dave, Col and Mike were pretty much right at the back
after an excessive breakfast with the lady at Blair Cottage. I waited
nearly 15 mins at the top of Hails Abbey climb and through they came. The
next hour or so was quite fast tracks, riding comfortably. The ride to
Stumps Cross was quite tricky in places and a bottle neck that we throught
was a control point, but not. Then it started to get a bit muddier still.
Some sections quite greasy on the front tyre. I fell off and got dropped
big time after I put my foot into the front wheel. I’ve got a bruise on
my arm too (how?) It started to hail as we went along the side of a wood
Hornsleasow I think. Condicote was a relief with a nice long road - track
section. The sun came out too. My 8 blocks worked great on the road, in the
mud – a bit skiddy sometimes.
Around the Slaughters to Naunton we were soon riding with the same few
people. SCCC and lakes. It was tough there down by the river and some
pluggy sections to get through. By the time we got to the rest halt at
Guiting Power it was 1pm. Mike and Col came in about 10 mins later. Some
nice lardy and oatcake and a few coffees / teas & off again at 1:30. Col
and Mike were going OK and some climbs were getting tougher - Mike had his
2nd wind and was looking powerful again. The wind was getting up a bit, but
it was sunny. At Salperton Park still with a good 20 miles to go, Mike said
he would have to stop and rest. He didn’t - good on ya Mike. Dropping
down to Severnhampton was really good. Then the climb up to the left into a
sheep field cruel knowing Winchcombe is about 4 miles downhill and here we
are going up a sheep field! At the top I waited and set off again with Col
and Mike with 12.2 miles to go. At this point it looked like it might rain
again and was getting colder. I was shivering too. Left up towards Cleeve
the thought of the end close by….
A really nasty descent over a load of stones and pulg back up again. I was
not going to stop now, as it would be 15 minutes wait and not too far.
Cleeve Hill was spectacular – I’d forgotten how fab the view was. You
could just see the Severn Estuary with the sun glinting on it in the
distance. Cleeve is much more track-ridden, than I remember a decade ago
when I lived down in Cheltenham. Then along to the golf course with a way
marked route agreed I presume with grassy but squidgy conditions and quite
a tough headwind at 300m + for the next 2 miles or so.
Finally down the back by the quarry and onto the main road for a final push
to the finish back at the school.
The hardest ever, possibly. The hardest I found it for sure – 8hrs in the
saddle! 7 hrs riding time. Yes I could have done it an hour faster, but
that’s not the point. This was mostly a team effort. Also the GPS worked
really well and helped us round all the way, very impressive with the route
function. Col and Mike came in nearly an hour later. But I waited to see
them in.
Broggies discover some real XC! And respect to everyone who finished today.
:-)
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